


Big Brother is Watching (Over You)

by InTheShadows



Series: oh god... there's more of you [16]
Category: Sherlock (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, Crossover, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mycroft Being a Good Brother, Protective Big Brother Mycroft, Protective Mycroft Holmes, The Other Holmes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 04:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19040905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTheShadows/pseuds/InTheShadows
Summary: When Tony walks in to his penthouse to find Mycroft already there, he's knows something is catastrophically wrong. As in World War Three wrong. Unfortunately it's not the next world war, it's something much more personal. Something that rocks Tony's world. Honestly at this point he would prefer World War Three to this.akaMycroft finds out about the Stark assassination and actually tells Tony about it instead of hiding it. Funny how that changes everything, isn't it?





	Big Brother is Watching (Over You)

**Author's Note:**

> A more serious story then you may be use to in my series, but something that I think needs to be written regardless. Because you can't tell me Big Brother Mycroft wouldn't tell his little brother about this. Not when the outcome of finding out another way are pretty predictable. Because honestly who's first instinct _isn't_ to punch the ass who has been hiding this from you? (Or attacking the person who did it, innocence or not, if they are standing right in front of you, but that's a whole other ball game right there.)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that  shit is about to go down when the British Government shows up at your door. Even if it’s your older brother.  _ Especially  _ if it’s your older brother. The one who lives across the ocean and is pathologically unable to handle leg work of any kind. And showing up in Tony’s penthouse out of the blue most definitely counts. 

“Is the next world war about to break out then?” is the first thing he asks when he sees Mycroft as he makes a bee line to the coffee machine. Because coffee is life. Only part of him is joking. He cannot remember - quite literally - the last time Mycroft left England. Maybe never. Certainly not since he took his current job. Add that to the look on his face and well. Part of him is honestly expecting an affirmative answer. 

“Anthony,” Mycroft greets with no annoyance or exasperation in his tone. 

And that is how Tony knows that something is very wrong. Bracing himself he turns so that he can get a good look at his brother. No, not World War Three. He wouldn’t look nearly so grave if it was something minor like that. Nor would he come all the way to New York. This is something even more serious. This is something personal. What exactly he doesn’t know, but he has a feeling he isn’t going to like the answer. “What’s up brainiac?” 

Again Mycroft doesn’t react which is just about enough to feel the beginnings of terror creeping into him. No not serious. Catastrophic. 

“Anthony,” Mycroft repeats himself, “as you know, my people have been helping sort the mess of SHIELD files that were dumped onto the internet a few months ago.” 

Tony nods. Right. The fall of SHIELD. What a disaster and a half. Tony has been working his ass off cleaning up  _ that _ particular mess. He hasn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since then. Part of him - the petty part - is tempted to let it go. To let Rogers and Romanoff face the full force of their consequences. It would serve them right. They hadn’t even called him during the mess. Do they expect him to take care of it afterwards? He shouldn't. He should let them sink or swim on their own. 

But he can’t because there are innocent people on the line. People who had nothing to do with HYDRA. Sure Tony might have exactly zero faith in SHIELD as an organization but that doesn’t mean he can stand by and do nothing. Not when he has the ability and the resources to help. He’s only one person though so he sucked it up and called Mycroft to help. Surprisingly he didn’t hesitate to agree. Then again given the nature of many of those documents it shouldn’t be. He likely would have been involved whether Tony asked or not. 

So these past months have been a blur of decoding, relocating and rescuing as many agents as he can. And offering support when he was too late. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth every time that happens. And it is occurring more and more often as time goes on. 

And now here Mycroft is, bringing it up needlessly because of course Tony knows. This has been his life lately. Why ask? He gets a sinking feeling in his stomach that he  _ really _ isn’t going to like the answer. “What did they find?” he asks with dread. 

Mycroft looks blank, holding back any expression as he continues, “As you know I have prioritized anything that mentions Stark to ensure none of your - or Howard’s - secrets are stolen. This morning we found video evidence that links Maria and Howard Stark to HYDRA’s assassination list,” he says without hesitation, getting right to the point. 

It is enough of a blow to knock Tony back a step. “No,” he says, “no. Howard killed them. He was drunk and he killed her. He had to. He  _ had _ to the old man was always drunk.” He doesn’t care that he is pleading. It can’t be true. It  _ can’t _ be. Not after all these years. 

“There is undeniable evidence to confirm so,” Mycroft says, still no hesitation. 

Tony can’t deny that there is something steadying about that. Even though he knows exactly how devastating this is going to be he still says it. There isn’t really a way to soften the blow of this and he doesn’t even try. Not because he’s a cold hearted bastard like so many people think. No. Even the Iceman has an undeniable loyalty to family. He will do anything for his two brothers. Protect them anyway he can. And right now he is doing what needs to be done. And how it needs to be done. What Tony needs is a rock right now. Mycroft knows that. 

“What evidence?” he asks, voice shaking despite his best efforts to hold it together. This whole thing feels so surreal. If it was anyone but Mycroft telling him this, he isn’t sure that he would believe them. 

“There is a video of it.” 

“How,” he has to clear his throat before he can continue, “how did it happen?”

“They sent the Winter Soldier after them.”

That gives Tony another pause. Not because they sent their pet assassin after them, but because they sent Sergeant Barnes after them. Rogers might not have called until after the fact, but when they did talk the first thing he said was ‘Bucky is alive’. Literally the first thing. Which is even more impressive because he was still in the hospital after Bucky ‘my god Tony I can’t believe he’s  _ alive _ ’ Barnes beat the ever living shit out of him. If he then didn’t turn around and save him Rogers might not have been in that bed to begin with. He might have been resting in a very different kind of bed instead. A permanent one. 

So instead of hearing what the hell he had been thinking, trying to pull that off without Tony - because  _ hello _ Tony  _ designed those engines _ , he knows exactly how to disable them without getting near them - he got to hear all about Bucky. Bucky this and Bucky that. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, history’s longest POW and brainwashed assassin extraordinaire. 

When Rogers finally took a breath he asked if Tony could help find him. ‘Because he’s out there, so alone and probably confused. I won’t let HYDRA get their hands on him. Not again.’ And because Tony is apparently a sucker for big blue eyes and a puppy dog pout, he agreed. He has been looking for Barnes in between everything else. 

Even if Rogers hadn’t asked Tony would likely be looking. Because he’s barely gotten through a fraction of ‘the Asset’s’ conditioning and programming, but what he has read makes him sick to his stomach. It was enough to make Afghanistan look like a picnic. A mere footnote in comparison. How could he not help after that? Howard may have never shut up about the Great Captain America, but Tony had been sure to include all the Howlies in his hero worship. That this was Captain America’s right hand man - well. It didn’t hurt regardless that Tony had been planning on helping anyways. 

Now though. Now. Bucky Barnes killed his parents. No. The Winter Soldier killed his parents. The monster that HYDRA turned him into. They took his body and stole his mind and used it for their own purpose. Not Bucky. Not in the ways that mattered. 

Too bad none of that matters right now. His logical mind can rationalize all it wants. Right now he doesn’t care. Right now his parents have been murdered by Captain America’s right hand man. Never mind that he was forced. Never mind that, technically speaking, Maria isn’t actually his mother. She is in all the ways that mattered. He may have spent the summer with Mycroft - and Sherlock once he was born - but that still means nothing in the face of what Maria did for him. More than Mummy Holmes. More than Howard. Perhaps less than Jarvis, but it’s still miles more than either of his genetic donors did. 

And she was murdered. Kill not by Howard, but by the Winter Soldier. The Fist of HYDRA. Bucky Barnes. There is a roaring in his ears, blocking everything else out. He doesn’t know whether to cry or scream or hit something. Preferably Barnes. Or Rogers. In a pinch he will take Rogers too. After all he was the one who first involved Tony in the first place. That is as good as reason as any to punch him. His hands twitch even as the rest of him stands stock still. He’s honestly not even sure if he’s breathing. If he is he can’t tell. 

He doesn’t know what to do so he stands there and silently rages as the world comes crashing down around his ears. World War Three would have definitely been preferable to this any day. “How,” he barely recognizes the sound of his own voice, “how did he do it?” 

“No Anthony,” Mycroft says. 

Denies him when he needs to know. It is like a fire burning in him. How? How? How? Plays on repeat in his head. If it is one thing all three of them have in common is a never ending sense of curiosity. One that never stops and never pauses, even when it would be wise to do so. Just because certain people - coughMycroftcough - are better are hiding it doesn’t mean it isn’t  _ a thing _ . So this demand of his isn’t exactly shocking. 

Only  _ Mycroft won’t listen to him _ . “No Anthony,” he says again, “that is something you do not need to hear.” 

“Tell me damnit,” Tony shouts. He trembles all over now, barely holding it together. “Tell me.” A sob escapes his control. 

All Mycroft does is shake his head and hold out a hand. “Come here brother mine.” 

That’s it. That’s what breaks his control. Tony flies into Mycroft’s arms, knocking him over with the force of it. Both go sprawling out on the couch at what has to be a terribly uncomfortable angle. But Mycroft doesn’t say anything and neither does Tony. He can’t at this point. He isn’t crying per se because Howard trained that out of him decades ago, but that doesn’t stop the sobs from coming. The hitched breathe and the inability to breath right. It leads him straight into a panic attack and he is still sobbing and shaking and he  _ can’t calm down _ . Can’t stop even if his life depended on it. 

The only thing that matters - the only thing holding him slightly together - is Mycroft’s arms around him. His brother is the only thing keeping him from shattering completely to pieces. Through it all he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t chide Tony over sentiment. He doesn’t order him to stop this unseemly behavior. He just holds him through it all. 

Tony is more grateful than words can describe. How much worse would it be if he was alone? If he found out some other way. Or, heaven forbid, actually found the footage Mycroft mentioned. That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. It is already a nightmare enough now. Just because it could be worse doesn’t mean it makes it any better now. Just the next tragedy in the series that is his life. Because it always seems to be something anymore. 

He isn’t sure how long they stay there until his breathing evens out into something resembling normal. There is still a slight hitch to that but he determinedly ignores it. Reluctantly he pulls away from the hug. Because now that the first wave of grief is winding down rage is starting to make his way through his veins. Rage and sadness are never a good mixture. Especially not for him. So while part of him wants to stay right where he is he also knows he needs to move. No need to make more of a scene than he already has even though he knows logically that Mycroft won’t hold it against him. Maybe if it was something else, but not this. 

“I am going to go blow stuff up,” he announces, refusing to meet his eyes. 

“Very well. I have cleared my schedule for the next three days should you need me.” 

A wave of relief rushes through him even as he feels embarrassed by the very idea of needing his big brother to look after him. He pushes it aside ad nods. With a sharp twist he turns and heads for the elevator. Rage is becoming stronger and stronger and he wants to be able to do something about it once he can’t stop it any more. Good thing the tower was designed to be sturdy. 

xxx

Tony watches with a sense of resigned shock as the monitor comes to life in front of him. Of course. Why not? It just figures with the way his week is going that this will be next. Because everything hasn’t been going to hell in a handbasket before this. Why not add  _ even more _ drama to the mix? 

“I know that road,” he mutters to himself. I know what is going to happen next, he doesn’t say out loud. Can’t work around the lump in his throat. Just because he has had time to come to terms with it doesn’t make it any easier. He waits just long enough for Barnes to appear on screen before he aims his repulsor beam and shoots. While part of him is still morbidly curious about the details he knows himself well enough to know that now is not the time. In fact, now might be the worst time possible. 

Which of course is why the villain of the week is showing it to him. How terribly kind of him. He should probably go deal with that. But then he catches Roger’s expression as he turns and freezes. That isn’t the look of realization. That is the look of guilty shame. Oh.  _ Oh _ . Oh no he didn’t. He absolutely did not have the guts to do what Tony thinks he just did. Unfortunately his face says otherwise. 

“Did you know?” he asks harshly, a stirring of that old anger coming to the surface again. 

“No,” Rogers says. Too bad he is lying through his teeth. Badly. 

“Don’t kid the kidder Rogers. Did. You. Know?” he asks slowly, but forcefully. 

“Yes,” Roger admits. 

Tony doesn’t think, he just acts. He punches Rogers right in the jaw hard enough that Tony can hear the bones crunch. 

Rogers goes down with a thud, out. 

Tony has to resist the urge to spit on him. Or kick him. Both are far,  _ far _ too tempting right now. At last he knows that he definitely broke the liar’s jaw. Serves him right. He’ll heal far too quickly as is, being a super soldier and all. A noise makes him look up. Barnes. 

Barnes looks as if he doesn’t know whether to attack or to run. Maybe both. His gun in half cocked, but isn’t actually raised. 

“I already knew,” he admits. He can’t help the dark chuckle at Barnes’ look of surprise, “Yeah so there’s that at least. Been punching a lot of Nazis in retaliation. Feels good. Too bad I hate hypocrites almost as much as I hate HYDRA.” He takes a look at Rogers still on the ground and takes a deliberate step back so he doesn’t end up giving into temptation. 

“Now if you excuse me, I have another bastard to deal with.” He turns and goes. 

By time he finds him T’Challa already has him well in hand. Good. The temptation to punch him is pretty strong too. And in the suit he would do a lot more damage to a baseline human. He gives a nod. One less thing to deal with. 

“Heads up Simba if you are going to deal with Rogers like you want than you are going to have to move him yourself.” 

“What did you do?” T’Challa frowns in disapproval. 

Tony snorts. As if that means anything to him after everything else. “Broke his jaw. Knocked him unconscious. Which is a hell of a lot less than you tried to do to Barnes so don’t give me that look King Kitty Cat, you don’t get to judge.” 

“You are going just like that? Without a fight? After Rogers lied to you?” Zemo asks. 

Tony glances at him, restrained and slightly desperate looking. “It was a good plan, I’ll give you that. A bit convoluted perhaps, but all things considered you did manage to play us like a fiddle. But you missed one thing - I already knew.” 

“No,” he denies, “How? That’s not possible.” 

“Neither should have been most of your plan. Have fun in prison.”  He leaves. 

“Wait. How did you know?” Zemo calls after him. 

Tony ignores him as he goes back inside the bunker. “Felix is outside with the jet if you want a ride out of here,” he tells Barnes, “Might want to hurry. He doesn’t exactly have the equipment to hold Zemo for long.” Rogers is still unconscious. Good. Tony doubts he could have held his temper if he wasn’t. 

“Why?” Barnes asks. 

“You  _ are _ the ones who stole it in the first place sunshine, I’d thought that be obvious. Or is that why is Garfield here too? Cause I’d ask but honestly I don’t care.” 

“Why... not attack me too?” 

It’s in that moment Tony appreciates just how very much Barnes is out of it. Looks like someone can’t exactly shake the programming off that easily. Well that would only help him if this goes to court, but somehow Tony doubts it will. But really Barnes looks like he’s barely holding it together himself, even if it looks different on him than Tony. 

“Because unlike what some people think I  _ am _ capable of telling the difference between the gun and the murderer. Sometimes it just takes an explosion or five.” Or ten or more but who is counting anyways? Certainly not Tony. “I have a bigger problem with those who use me,” he looks pointedly down at his old childhood hero. What a twist in fate. “Explain that to him for me. Maybe he’ll listen to  _ you _ because Tesla knows he stopped listening to me long ago. His dark side doesn’t help me when he is actively lying to my face.” He turns and goes. 

Time to get out of there before he really does give into temptation. He still has stuff he needs to do before he can burn off this rage. Anyone who thinks they can take Tony for a fool has another thing coming - be they a national icon, an ex teammate or Secretary of State. No one messes with Tony and gets away with it. 

Time to get to work. 

 


End file.
